The Hindu : Kerala News : Jacobite Syrian Church to give equal priority to all parties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 04, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Jacobite Syrian Church to give equal priority to all parties

By K. Venkiteswaran

KOCHI, APRIL 3 . The Jacobite Syrian Church has no politics of its own and would accord equal priority to all political parties and fronts in the coming Lok Sabha elections. However, the Church members had different political views and it was up to them to exercise their franchise as per their wishes. The Church as such was not inclined to impose any diktat on the followers, said the official Chief spokesperson of the Church, Varghese Kallapara.

Talking to The Hindu , he said the Catholicose, Baselious Thomas I, had already made his views known to all and these matters had been discussed at various fora of the Church. However, there were jarring notes and some of the leaders of the Church were speaking in different voices. If any announcement had been made contrary to the views of the Catholicose, then it would be after considering local issues and depending on the contingencies existing at particular places, the spokesperson said.

The Catholicose had underscored that the Church as such had no political view of its own though the members were free to have any political opinions. The Church followers were members of all political parties, but the Church came first and politics was secondary, he said. The Church viewed everyone as equal and was not interested in active politics. However, the appeal of the Catholicose was that in each constituency, the `Sabha members' should weigh the pros and cons and assess the candidates before casting their votes. The members should boycott those who had condemned and oppressed the Church and the diocesan shrines and the Church leadership.

Fr. Kallappara, however, said the Church felt that there was no proper representation for the Church members in the selection of candidates. The community was 16-lakh-voter strong and was a deciding influence at least in half-a-dozen constituencies in Central Kerala, he said adding that when the seats were allocated, the fronts could have given due representation to the Church.

He said the ballot boxes would reflect the neglect shown towards the Church. Fr Kallappara is also the general convener of the Political Affairs Committee of the Jacobite Syrian Church.

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